


Drowning With Grace

by delilah24



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sabriel - Freeform, ghost - Freeform, ghost hunt - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 07:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19421629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delilah24/pseuds/delilah24
Summary: Sam and Dean find themselves chasing a hunt through an abandoned water park. Separated, Sam finds himself in a dire situation, only to have an unexpectedly familiar face pop up.





	Drowning With Grace

**Author's Note:**

> Created for @sabrielevents on Tumblr who are hosting a Sabriel week!

Another hunt gone wrong. When did they ever go right?

Sam had found an article about a mysterious murder, which in itself is redundant, that had brought him and Dean here to an abandoned water park. A boy, just about to graduate, and his posse of friends had ignored the well-intentioned no trespassing signs and explored the ominous lot. Slimy moss ate at the sides of damp rope and once beautiful blue tide pools were green and thick with phosphates. It was an innocent venture of curiosity, vandalism never crossing the crews mind. Then the boy started coughing up bloody water and collapsed. No matter how hard they pumped his chest, more and more kept coming, until he finally stopped moving.

It didn’t take too much digging to find out the park was the site of an accidental murder. A boy had been drowned by his friends, who had been playing too rough and forgot to consider he was prone to asthmatic attacks. It didn’t help they kept pushing him under water. But just to be certain they had the right ghost, as drowning as an all too often occurrence, Sam and Dean decided to investigate the place and find him. With a lot of ground to cover, they took separate areas and promised to meet up in the middle or, if they got in trouble before that, yell for the other.

The problem with that plan was that Sam couldn’t yell. His lungs were filled with water.

He’d had the bright idea of walking up the questionable wooden stairs to the top platform of some waterslides, in order to get a birds eye view of the area. When he stepped near the entrance of one, however, a gray hand shot from the darkness and wrapped its fingers around his ankle, pulling him down into the dark tube. The consuming darkness, the descent that was somehow slow and too fast at the same time, it made Sam’s heart stutter. 

Then he came shooting back out into the moonlight, briefly illuminated, until he plunged into the disgusting algae-ridden water collected in the deep pool.

Sam forced his eyes open, yet still he was unable to see anything. The layer of plants on the surface blockaded any chance of life developing here. He tried to move. He tried so hard to swim to the surface and take a big, gulping breath of that sweet summer air. His limbs wouldn’t listen. They twitched weakly at the most, paralyzed by an unseen force. Panic pumped his heart against his will, and the oxygen in his lungs was quickly seeped out. Despite his best efforts, he opened his mouth, and drank the infectious water, inviting it in unwillingly. His lungs - no, his whole body - burned helplessly. His vision began to fade, and all his muscles relaxed, no longer held because he didn’t need to be. In acceptance, he looked upwards again, wondering if that’s where he would end up. If that’s where he _deserved_ to end up.

Instead of an answer, he saw a golden light, bursting through the invading plants and illuminating the water. There was a splash, and bubbles covered a dark figure, with golden wings flying behind his back. An angel. He was hallucinating, he realized. The figure grabbed his arm and yanked him upwards. This his how they take you, Sam thought quietly, and closed his eyes, letting the sensation of inevitable death wash over him.

~

“Sam, hey.” A hand patted against Sam’s face lightly. “Wake up, ya bum.”

Sam, believing this was some odd post-death dream, kept his eyes closed. The same hand slapped him hard across the face at his lack of response. He winced and his eyes flew open, rolling his head back over to see who hit him.

It was Gabriel, kneeling over him, eyebrows knitted together.

“Gabe -?” He got halfway through the name before more water came up his throat. He coughed, chest hurting with each heave, and he felt like he was going to throw up.

“Damn it, sorry Sam, I thought I got all that out,” Gabriel snapped his fingers and the water ceased, though Sam continued to cough, rubbing his throat as he sat up.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sam asked in between coughs. He didn’t remember swallowing a cheese grater, but he must have for his throat to feel this scratchy.

“What’s it look like? Saving your ass,” Gabriel motioned to the water, “Death was getting ready to walk out the door and come to you. I stepped in and took care of that ghost for you.”

Sam looked at Gabriel, confused. “Why?” The last time they’d seen each other, Sam had found out Gabriel’s true identity. A second time. He wouldn’t be surprised if Gabriel now revealed he wasn’t a trickster or an archangel, but some other superior power. 

It took Gabriel longer than expected to answer. “You still need to play your role in all this. I can’t have you dying before then.”

Part of Sam didn’t believe that. Part of Sam heard a faint trace of worry in his voice, in the shifting of his eyes and the fiddling of his hands. Why Gabriel would worry about him, he had no idea, so he took his word for it. “How genuine. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Sam stayed sitting, looking down at himself, catching his breath. “I thought I was going to die,” he whispered to himself. The thought sent an icy chill down his back, unbalanced him in an indescribable way. He _had_ died once before - back in that ghost town, when that knife was jabbed into his spine, so one might think he wouldn’t be as scared the second time around. The experience had just the opposite effect. He knew what was coming now, and it was more terrifying than he or anyone else could imagine.

For a moment, he was scared he lost control over his body again as he started shaking, and his throat tightened up. Gabriel placed a hand on his leg, and although Sam couldn’t see it, he felt a wing curl around his back. The archangel’s fingers glowed gently, and a calming warmth flowed through him like nothing he’s ever felt before. It was like laying out in a summer sun times a million, a hundred million. He looked at Gabriel, who sat beside him. The archangel didn’t look at him, only forward, his jaw tight and his cheeks rosy. Sam looked back down at his hand. By no means did he trust Gabriel, not after all of his tricks and lies. On the other hand...he just saved Sam and stuck around to comfort him. Or maybe it was just the angelic grace that made him more trusting. That allowed him to place his hand lightly on top of Gabriel’s, and eventually, lean into him. Well, onto him, considering how much shorter his vessel was.

Eventually, after sitting like that for God knows how long, Sam’s eyelids drooped and his breathing slowed. Gabriel finally turned his head to look at him. “If you ever need any help Sam, you know, just uh...call me. Or pray. Just think my name really hard or something and I’ll hop on over if I can.”

Sam nodded. “Thank you again Gabriel. Really.”

Gabriel nodded back. “No problem. It’s my job. Or was supposed to be my job, anyways.”

At those words, Sam felt compelled to return the favor. But he was so exhausted, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

~

“Sammy? Sammy!”

Dean shook Sam awake, his eyes fluttering open. Dean stopped and let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Jesus Christ Sammy, I thought you were dead. What the hell happened to you?”

Disoriented, Sam looked around. The sun was beginning to come up, and he was alone on the broken concrete. Alone. Yet the warmth of his grace still bubbled in Sam’s chest.

“I...fell asleep,” He answered as he stood up, still looking around.

Dean narrowed his eyes. “Wha - Fell asleep? Really?”

Sam nodded. He pointed to the top of the slide. “The ghost, he yanked me down that and I...I almost drowned. But I took care of him.”

“Took care of him?”

“Yeah he was attached to...something. I burned it, we’re all good.”

There it was - Dean’s naturally distrusting bitchface. “Uh huh?”

“What?”

Dean waved his hand dismissively. “You know what, never mind, I’m just glad you’re okay. Let’s get out of here, this place gives me the heebie jeebies more than usual.”

Sam just nodded along as they walked towards the exit, mind still stuck on his fleeting encounter with Gabriel, which left a ghost of a smile on his lips. 


End file.
